Arts & Entertainment
Canton Rocks Out at Library's Open Book Coffehouse
Musical Coffeehouse builds community in Canton.
No longer Canton’s best-kept secret, the C’s is a place where you can really listen to the music.
Located in the renovated basement Community Room, the coffeehouse brings musical acts to Canton who produce “contemplative” music, said Emily Prigot, coordinator of the coffeehouse.
“It’s something that you’re thinking about, but also something that is felt,” said Prigot. “It tends to be a wondrous treat for the head and the heart.”
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Tonight, the Open Book Coffeehouse will host , a Brooklyn-based acoustic singer/songwriter duo at 7:30 p.m. Influenced by artists such as Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Bjork, and Simon and Garfunkel, Barnaby Bright boasts quirky instruments, rich harmonies, and captivating lyrics. Their music has been featured on “ER” and “Days of Our Lives.”
“I’m looking for a range of styles, I don’t like to have just one,” Prigot said. “We’re trying to bring out people that you may not have heard before but that people will really enjoy.”
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The coffeehouse was established by Prigot and Library Director Mark Lague in 2006 as a way to draw the community in after the library’s expansion and renovation in 2003.
Performances are held the third Saturday of each month, September-November and January-June, and have ranged from folk to jazz, bluegrass to Irish music.
In the past, the Open Book Coffeehouse has hosted acts such as The Short Sisters, City of Roses and Mad Agnes. Prigot said that as the coffeehouse, which is now part of the Boston Area Coffeehouse Association, has become more well-known, bands contact her for gigs there.
Ticket prices range from $8-$15, something Prigot and Lague do purposely so the price is never a barrier to bringing people together.
“The purpose is not to make money but to use it as a community room,” Prigot said. “To bring the community in and use it in a meaningful way together.”
Included in the ticket price is hot coffee and cakes, cookies and home-baked goods by “very generous” coffeehouse volunteers.
On top of the already-low ticket prices, all students get half-price tickets, Prigot said. The coffeehouse is working to show young people that there is a quality musical venue in town where you do not have to be 21.
“Young people may say, ‘that’s not for me,’” Prigot said. “But I’m not so sure about that.”
Though money is not the purpose of the coffeehouse, which is entirely volunteer-run, the proceeds from shows still help to improve the library. All proceeds go to , an organization that identifies and makes purchases the library can’t make for itself.
Prigot said this can range from new software or furniture to things for the children’s room or free museum passes that the library offers its patrons.
In its short, five-year existence, Prigot said the coffeehouse has been successful in creating a community atmosphere.
“It has served as a way for people to see that the library is not just about books, but that it’s also about community events, bringing people together, and in a way, the arts,” Prigot said. “I think these are all positive things.”
For more information on tonight's show, click .
Upcoming Acts:
March 19: Celtic folk artist Jed Marum
Admission: $10
April 16: Folk group Mad Agnes
Admission $12
May 21: Jazz ensemble Lisa Yves and Women at Play, with Tal Shalom-Kobi and Miki Matsuki
